Welcome to UNITY the rock club in the heart of Peterborough. Bringing you the best of new talent and live entertainment every week. Meeting every Thursday night at Goodbarns Yard, 64 St Johns Street, Peterborough.

Friday, March 31, 2006

You know there's times in your life when you sit back and think to yourself "It doesn't get much better than this." And then it does.This is what's happening at Unity. We keep thinking it can't get any better than this and it does time and time again. You've had James Chadwick (Who allegedly has turned violent, head butting someone, and has turned to the Dark Side - See chat box)now you have the supreme talent and voice that is Andy Whittle. Who it seems hasn't head butted anyone yet. But give him time. This is what rock and roll stardom does to people...Someone pointed out to me that this was the first time people have sat on the floor at Unity and just listened.But we weren't on the floor for long because next up was the ever improving Point Of Origin. Now with Abi on vocals. I'm sorry but this week is NOT going to be an Abi fest of photos. It's all about the band as a whole. Each member contributing their undeniable talent to the complete sound. I've never heard such applause for one act at Unity as we did tonight. Finally Vince et al rounded up the live section of the night as Circus.Here's a few of the people who were lucky enough to be here tonight.There wasn't a guest photographer this week as Lisa forgot. She promises to get her act together for next week. Italians eh?Men. Don't expect any help on a Thursday.

Thursday, March 30, 2006

Yet again Emma has put together a lovely nights entertainment for the monthly Pixie Skin bash. Great music, laid back and mellow.First up from Circus, Vince and Nathan.The Round Corners. That's Elgin, Alison, Nathan and Jimmy D on drums to you. Here's Abi and Stacey, trying out a few new songs for Point of Origin never before heard live on stage. We were treated to the Dana Wylie Band. So that's Dana Wylie on Piano, Mandolin and vocal and occasional guitar. Jeremy Hellard Drums Guitar Harmonica and vocals and Corin Wright on double bass. Finally Dave Simpson who waited patiently to the end when he had only enough time for a couple of songs. But they were worth waiting for. Very nice understated and precise guitar playing.

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

It's time to look to the week ahead again! Have your diary at the ready.

Also, don't forget that if you are a musician or are involved in putting on an event of any sort email us the details the week before and we will add it to this post.

What a week the Muddy world had last week! Here starts the next good one:

Wednesday

Pixie Skin's third outing is taking place at The Solstice on Wednesday. Entrance is by voluntary donation. The flavour of these nights is jazz, folk and world music and this time around includes performances from Dana Wylie, Abi & Stacey of Point of Origin, and Vince and Nathan of Circus. Artwork from local and not so local artists will also be on display to pleasure your eyes.

Thursday

Unity returns to Fidds on Thursday with Folkwit artist Andy Whittle taking the acoustic stage (if you missed this guy at the Equinox Party don't miss it again - one of the finest acoustic acts to hit this city). Later on Point of Origin will be taking centre stage with their unique fusion of reggae, hip-hop and funk to pleasure your dancing feet and make your funky asses wiggle. As always entrance is free before 9:15 and £3 after. Doors open 8:30.

If your hardcore heads desire a monster sized feast of metal Vortex Present metal wonders Smokescreen, Vendetta, Soretooth and Vulgar Onslaught. The event is taking place at The Park and door times are 8:30 till late Door tax is £4, with a special offer of 3 for the price of 2.

Urb (System Abuse/Unity) is back in Bar Lisboa for the late night Thursday session running 12 midnight till 3am.

Friday

The Round Corners are in Bogarts on Friday night serving up folky melodies featuring Elgin's beautiful voice. Music will be 9pm onwards and entrance is free.

Anti-septic Promotions return to Fidds on Friday with a diverse line-up of post-hardcore, emocore, piano rock and acoustic music from The First, Car Crash Lullaby, Fleeing From Finales and Lost On Campus. Door tax is £4.

If you've got your stomping feet on and require some hard dance, breaks and drum and bass Audio Collective are returning to Bar Lisboa on Friday night (8pm till 1am). Entrance is free.

Saturday

Opaque are presenting their monthly Opaque and Jam event at Bogarts on Saturday night. Bring your instruments and your inspiration!

Also on Saturday The Brewery Tap is playing host to two of our cities finest bands - The Gangsters and Silverspace. Music starts around 10pm. For those of you that know Tashabear it's her 21st next week and this will be her birthday drinking session - followed by a birthday chilloiut at Deep Roots (see below).

Sunday

At the Fidds heats 2 and 3 of the battle of the bands competition where Point of Origin won the first heat. This week at 2pm we have Heat 2 featuring Switch Theory, Paul Etherington,and Capo Jr. Then heat 3 is on at 8pm with Matter of Distance, Silent Ground and First Aid Boy.

Deep Roots are returning to Bar Lisboa on Sunday afternoon and evening for a laid back session of funky grooves to bring your weekend to a happy close and leave a smile on your face.

On a very cold day the other week we all went to the funfair to do a photo shoot for Opaque. I've done lot's of live pics for them so why not dead ones? Moony gave permission for me to show you these straight away. This is one of the fun ones I shot. I knew the guy who ran the ride and he let us use it without charging us the £1.50 per person.This one was taken while Moony was actually playing "Saucisson" on guitar. Really. In the middle of a funfair. He had to stop when his fingers got so cold he couldn't play anymore. So I photo shopped this one. Giving the blurry Opaque look. This could be the first time Moony has seen this.You may notice on the right hand side a new feature. The Unity Forum, for you to discuss anything. I've given over charge of this feature for now to Shaggy and Tasha, complete with passwords and everything. There's only so much I can do myself. If they don't have time there's an opportunity for someone to be the forum webmaster, overseeing the forum. A bit of web savvy is useful, enthusiasm essential. There's not much to see right now but we'll get there. It just needs YOU to be part of it.

Sunday, March 26, 2006

The Muddy Promotions Equinox party at Bar Lisboa. Here are a few of the bands who played. BB and Juzzt All the way from Cambridge, Colonel Bastard. In parts politically incorrect but don't we just love that. Los Guys. Not at all what I expected when I saw them limbering up for the big one. So no "arriba arriba andele andele" or Speedy Gonzales references. Sorry Speedy Gonzales was a mexican mouse long before you were born... it's a long story... don't ask Shaggy must have told me the name of this band at least three times and three times I think "What?" So now James and Lee have put me right it's Tagunska Butterfly. Also from Cambridge but I can't recall the name, look I was having a bad day alright? But isn't that young James Chadwick in the picture top right of the montage below. See redeemed myself. That was close. Hells teeth it gets worse I can't remember the name of this band either. But they had an interesting sound mixing mandolin with a medieval sounding clarinetty thingy and acoustic bass. OK it's Karmadillo and the Mandolin is a Charango. You see there's a conspiracy going on. This is soul flower. Except the last time I saw them they were "The groove Cartel" now it's "Soulflower" again. Will someone tell me what's going on. My good friend said to me "Aren't they nice. That lead singer is a very nice man. So's the bass player." Sorry guys, the last time a girl referred to me as being nice she went off with my best friend. Looks like your sex life is going to be history now. What every one was waiting for, "Tarantism", with their sound system set, to finish off the live acts section of the event. They got you lot dancing that's for sure.

Friday, March 24, 2006

Tonight the entire evening was guest presented by James of Point 7 Pistol. Wake agreed to appear at short notice due to a regretable absence of Cougar Bob. Followed by half of Acer doing their acoustic set.Finally James himself on stage with Point 7 Pistol.

This weeks guest photographers.This week we had two guest photographers, Nathan from Circus, and Kizzy, and they were busy, a total of 186 photos taken with the little camera. As usual there were some bizarre pics taken. Quite a few were excellent. Especially Kizzys pics of Acer, where she got close up and personal.If you'd like a try at being guest photographer, most people have said how much they enjoyed it, talk to Mike Da Hat.So we have had guest photographers, guest artists, guest presenters. The next thing I guess would be guest compere, someone who introduces the bands, does the links and the inbetween shouting. I wonder what the powers that be will think of that idea.If you've got any ideas talk to Richard or Shaggy.MeanwhileRock on dudes

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

The purpose of this weekly message is to keep you informed of events in Peterborough and the world beyond that you may be interested in attending, as well as updating you on developments that happen within and around Muddy Promotions and the Grassroots Festival.

The Muddy camp is very excited this week. Not only has the weekend of the Equinox Party finally arrived, but full opening of the Muddy Community Centre/Festival HQ can now been seen on the horizon. An update on these things can be found at the very bottom of this mail.

So what's on that's causing all this excitement this week?

Thursday

This week's Unity @ Fidds comes from a guest presenter - Jimmy from Point Seven Pistol. He's booked three top class rock bands who will all be playing unplugged style sets: Acer, Point Seven Pistol and The Cougar Bobs. As always there will also be the Unity Jam for you all to get involved in (8:30 - 9:30). Entrance is free before 9:15 and £3 after.

If you still have energy left after that and need some late partying to help on your weekend warm-up, Urb (System Abuse/Playskool) is running a new late night session at Bar Lisboa (24 Lincoln Road) from 12 midnight till 3am. I don't have any further details right now but keep your eyes peeled, it's bound to be a good one.

Friday

On Friday new promotion Localised is throwing its opening night at Limit (formerly known as the Starlight Suite - POSH ground). The order of the night is Jackin' Deep House and Breaks and DJ's on the bill are Local (Playskool), Vicks (Hot Dog - Leicester), Chopper (Chopper Choons), Benny T (Drip-Dry Productions) and Shaggy (Playskool/Unity). Doors are 9pm till late and tax will be £4 before 10:30 and £5 after.

Also on Friday, the Audio Collective return to Lisboa (24 Lincoln Road) for another session of Hard Dance, Drum & Bass and Breaks. Doors are 8pm till 1am and entrance is free.

Saturday

It's time for the big one!

The second istalment of the Grassroots saga is taking place at Lisboa from 12:30 in the afternoon till 5am next morning. All of this for just £5 (£4 to fully paid up Muddy members).

The line-up is as diverse as you'd anticipate and of top-notch quality - including veterans of festivals all over the UK and Europe. Check this out:

You will also be able to purchase your Muddy memberships (£5) and Grassroots Festival Tickets (£20 to members only) at this event. The Grassroots Festival is taking place near Peterborough on 23rd to 25th June 2006. This will be an event for music and the arts the like of which this city has never seen before!

There are only 500 spaces available for the festival - get your tickets quickly as we could well run out during this event!

Everyone is paying the same ticket price for entry - artists, performers, crew, organisers - everyone! This means that when buying a ticket you aren't paying to come to a festival - but to be a part of it. With this in mind please remember to tick the volunteer box on your membership form! If everybody at the festival volunteers for just a couple of hours over the weekend (stewarding, stage crews, cafe workers etc) the workload of this very special event will not fall on the few but will be spread easily over the community that will form on the weekend. We've all complained over the years about how little goes on in this city - this is your chance to make the change!

By the way, if you get hungry during the course of the marathon that is the Equinox Party Lisboa has a cafe downstairs selling homemade food and drinks of good quality for very cheap prices (big homemade omelette, chips, salad and bread only £3!) so if you need to restock on natural energy during the event you needn't wander too far.

....This party is going to become very full as well - please get there early to make sure you get in!

Sunday

If you have any energy left after that lot Sunday Skool are running their Sunday evening of stewed soul and fried funk at Lisboa. Entrance to the event is free - but make sure you bring your dancing shoes cos it might get sweaty in there!

Sunday afternoon at 4pm is doors open time for Fidds on Sunday as well. It's Heat Number 2 of the Fidds Band of the Year competition. The winner of this heat will go through into the semi-final against Heat Number 1 winners Point of Origin. Entrance to the event is £4.

After kicking out from that one, Fidds is reopening at 8pm for a night of comedy and acoustic music (including Folkwit records artists James Chadwick and Andy Whittle).

.....And Finally

Festival HQ/Muddy Community Centre (formerly The Glass Onion on Burghley Road) is taking shape and it's not long before it will be fully operational!

The centre will house rehearsal rooms for bands/musicians, art studios, workshop space for wood and metalwork, a DJ mixing/recording area, a recording studio, an organic garden, the Muddy offices and a Fair Trade Cafe which will host acoustic music events/art exhibitions/film showings. The cafe (which will be called The Butterfly Bar) will eventually serve alcohol though that may be a little further off.

The Butterfly Bar is already available for paid up Muddy Promotions members (& their guests) to come and socialise in - and offers Fair Trade Tea & Coffee for your drinking pleasure. Please feel free to pop by and speak to the people there about what's going on.

Muddy membership and Festival tickets are also available at the Centre.

The other areas of the building will be accessible at an additional subscription or charge out rate. Details of this will follow as final decisions are made - but if you would be interested in rehearsal rooms or art studios please contact us or go and see someone at the Centre.

The Muddy Team are all very excited at the positive links that are forming in Peterborough and the surrounding area, and would like to wish all of you much peace, happiness and fulfillment in the times to come.

Also the Unityrocks hit counter passed the 4000 mark this weekend. I had a quiet celebration over a pint of falling down water. So we're getting,on average, 50 hits a day. People will be wanting to pay us to advertise soon. Yikes!

Monday, March 20, 2006

Point of Origin left the competition standing with their intelligent and increasingly tight sound. Their multiple layers of keyboard, flute, guitar, bass and vocals was overwhelming, leaving the opposition little room in the competition. A well deserved win.But that's not to say the other bands weren't any good. The Waheys a fun band, full of energy, and high velocity rock, even if they did (jokingly) encourage hooliganism. It was just unfortunate for them they were drawn against Point of Origin. In another week and another line up they might have won. Full marks for attitude and fun.Finally we had Fake Exterior, who were loud. Very loud. God! I'm getting old. Someone else who loves thrash metal should do the write up for this. They sounded great from outside. We've got guest photographers, perhaps we should have guest reviewers. Anyone fancy themselves as a rock Journalist? Apply here.Seriously if you've got something constructive/interesting/humourous to say. Then we want to hear from you. First step on the ladder an all that. Here in Peterborough we have the musical talent, why not journalistic talent as well? Get writing and send your copy to Mike Da Hat, link top right.Finally check out The Evening Telegraph, Wednesday or Thursday, pix from the battle of the bands will be appearing. I don't know which, I just take the photos. It's in the hands of the Gods or would that be Duncan Hall.

Friday, March 17, 2006

It doesn't get much better than this week at Unity. Elgin returned to our stage with her new band, Ali on Violin, Jimmy on drums and Vince on Harmonica and of course a guest appearence of the legendary James Chadwick on Bass. For some reason our friends formally known as Circus, tonight became "Jukebox", spending time in France does thing to your head apparently. But Vince and the boys were on their usual form despite protestations that they were under rehearsed. They also dragged Alison on stage with her electric violin, which is always a treat. the night continued with James Chadwick on stage. Starting off with a guitar instrumental named after Jimmys jacket. After that he was inviting everyone on stage, Alison, Vince, Richard, Nathan, Ian and Moony to just join in and have fun.and just when you think it can't get any better than this, who's next on stage, but Opaque. With new artwork from the Muddy Arts team. Who else turned up on stage? Alison with her Violin. A few weeks ago I suggested that Alison should be used more. I think my comment has been taken to heart. Because she's guested in every act this evening. She'll be catching James up for the total number of guest appearences soon.Enough enough how much excitement can we stand in one evening? How much excitement can we pack into one evening? Our final act of the night "Flow Motion".

Finally

Tonights guest photographer was Shaggy, his mission statement was to take pictures and capture the atmosphere. He interpretted that by saying his theme for the evening was surprise. Surprise and shock. His two themes for the evening was surprise, shock and stealth. His three themes for the night were surprise, shock, stealth and a fanatical desire to destroy reputations. Judge for yourself.... If anyone is interested in being guest photographer for the evening, speak to Mike Da Hat, choose your own theme. Meanwhile

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

The Muddy camp is getting all excited just now as tickets for the Grassroots festival have just become available. They will be on sale at the all day and all night Grassroots Equinox Party that will take place at Lisboa (24 Lincoln Road) on Saturday 25th March. Only 12 weeks to go to the Festival itself - time to get Muddy!

Festival HQ (formerly the Glass Onion, Burghley Road) is taking shape as well. If any of you have a spare hour or two that you could spend helping get the building ship-shape and ready for full use by our community would be gratefully received. Just ring the two bells on the back door anytime between 10am and 10pm and someone will be more than happy to find you something to do. A grassroots movement such as is being built here at the moment can only work with lots of positive energy injected by a lot of people. Karma sees to it that it all goes around.

So to, what's on this week:

Thursday

Unity have got a fantastic line-up for you at the Fidds this Thursday. It's the debut performance of new acoustic band The Round Corners, as well as the Unity debut for Cambridge based Dear Old Blighty and hip-hop/beatbox duo Flo-motion. Just to round things off they have old favourites Opaque and world-record-breaking DJ Urb to finish the night. Doors are 8:30 till 1am and entrance is free before 9:15 and £3 after.

It's also the Final of Bogarts DJ of the Year competition - which is taking place in Gem Wine and cocktail bar (next door to Bogarts) and utilising their beautiful Mackie rig for a booming night. Entrance is free.

Friday

Playskool return to the Fidds for another session of psy-trance/house/hard acid trance on Friday. Entrance is £2 before 10pm and £4 after. Always a good friendly vibe. Kick out is 2am.

There's a triple bill of live music fun at The Boys Head on Oundle Road on Saturday night, featuring Point Seven Pistol, The Remote State and Rebel Radio. Entrance is free and things are due to kick off around 8:30.

Fidds is gonna have its foundations rocked by the System Abuse crew on Saturday, presenting the second of their "new breed" events showcasing new and up-and-coming drum and bass DJ's and MC's alongside the more established and successful bods from the boro. Entrance is £3 and doors are open 8pm till late.

Sunday

On Sunday Deep Roots are running their second session of chilled out and funky grooves to relax you through your Sunday. This event will take place at Lisboa, complete with comfy sofas to kick back on while you nurse your Sunday-head.

Point of Origin are playing in Heat no. 1 of Fidds band of the year competition on Sunday afternoon as well. Other bands in this heat are The Waheys and Fake Exterior. Doors open at 4pm and entrance is £4. Please come along and show your support.

...and Finally

The summer is creeping up on us fast now, it's nearly time to get out into the fields for those outdoor festivals and parties that make you feel connected to our fair planet and free your mind of the caging of walls and ceilings. The Muddy crew are getting ready for a big and busy one, time to get involved and help make a positive mark in this area.

Friday, March 10, 2006

This week we were treated to Istari better known to everyone else as Abi and RichardSo that's another excuse for an Abi fest of photos. Go on punish me. Oh all right, some of Richard too.So you take away the acoustic instruments and give them electric and they become another band, another personality. Wake playing the house for all they were worth. Not only a great sound, but a great show as well.Finally this weeks guest photographer was Simon, fresh off DJ duties and a Finepix S5500 camera thrust into his hand. Rock on dudes

Thursday, March 09, 2006

O2 last night unveiled its very own unsigned band search - O2 Undiscovered.Aspiring bands are being encouraged to upload tracks to the O2 website or,for the less net savvy, to take a CD into an O2 shop. Tracks will then be reviewed by a team of music types - namely former Mean Fiddler owner VincePower, Times music critic Lisa Verrico, Music Week man Ajax Scott, Xfm presenter Lucio, Polydor Head Of A&R Simon Gavin, and former Elastica guitarist Paul Jonze.

The best bands picked out by that bunch will then receive a range of support and opportunities - including studio and producer time, a digital release of a track, the chance to play at an industry showcase, and a slot at the O2 sponsored Wireless festival.

Monday, March 06, 2006

What a night we had last Saturday! The Muddy Team made the Brewery Tap into a magical space like has never been seen there before, filled it with friendly people and made the atmosphere go off like a rocket. Massive thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make this event happen and all those that showed their much needed support.

Just waiting for the next Grassroots Party on the 25th now - gonna go boom!

If you are a musician or promoter who would like your event(s) mentioned in this mailout please reply to this address and we'll be happy to add it.

So what's on this week in the local area and beyond?

Wednesday

On Wednesday Anti-Septic Promotions present the next instalment in their promotions at the Fidds. This week's huge punk and metal line-up consists of The Ruined, Fletch Cadillac, The Anti-Trust and Silverguard. Doors open at 7:30 pm and tax is £4. For more info on this event and the regular events Anti-Septic Promotions are bringing to the city see http://myspace.com/theantiseptic

Thursday

Unity return to the Fidds on Thursday for another night of fun and frolics. We have a fantastic line-up with the wondeful Istari playing acoustic music, Wake with their full on rock set for the first time at Unity, and The Superpenetraitors with their tongue in cheek comedic death metal warrior cries. Entrance is free before 9:15 and £3 after.

The DJ competition continues at Bogarts on Thursday as well. Entrance is free and you'll get six Dj's playing 30 minute slots competing for a place in the grand final.

Friday

If you fancy getting out of the city on Friday night The Synergy Project are throwing their magical monthly party at the seOne club in London Bridge. If you've not seen or heard of these parties before check out http://thesynergyproject.org for more info. They put on the most inspiring and switched on events you're likely to find.

If you fancy the long mission but want something a little harder and faster check out Freeformation @ Hidden in Vauxhall. It's free entry if you email the organisers. You can get more info and contact details at http://nuenergy.co.uk/ If you would like to go and want some friendly local bods to go with reply to this mail and we'll put you in touch with some Peterborough contingent who will be there. Closer to home on Friday The Contrast, Columbian Necktie and Remote State are playing at Fidds. This is a warm-up gig before the Contrast boys head of to the USA for another tour. Doors open at 9pm and tax is £4.

SaturdaySystem Abuse return to the Limit on Saturday night for another night of 20K drum and bass madness - this time with Renegade Hardware's Skitty on the headline slot, with Offkey Ohm Resistance System Abuse DJ's Khanage and Lethal as well as the usual line-up of SA guys. If you get there early there is a reggae session from Playskool Unity's Shaggy and System Abuse's Urb from 8 till 10.

SundayDeep Roots present Sunday Skool at Lisboa (24 Lincoln Road) on Sunday afternoon and evening. The menu on offer is a righteous mish-mash of up for it funk and soul to lift your spirits high and wear your dancing shoes thin. Entrance is £3 and for every entrance a donation will be made to the children's ward of Peterborough Hospital. Holy vibes guaranteed. Till next time...Have a lovely week and weekend. We look forward to seeing you all in the ether soon.

I know a lot of you came along to the brewery tap on Saturday night. We weren't disappointed. Point of Origin played to packed house and a final standing ovation.Their unique style, a bit of reggae a bit of rap a bit of everything, hit a chord with everyone present.Then Opaque fresh from their London triumph at the Café de Paris last week, delivered a run through of their new long player, "The Last Moustache". Available now. Price £10, but apparently that's negotiable. Those of us who made it to London got ours included in the entry price of £8, so yah boo sucks. It really is a good album and well worth a listen.So go and collar Moony to score your own copy, you wont regret it. Also on stage with Opaque, as guest Electric Violinist, the lovely Alison. Can we start a campaign to get them to use her more on stage? She is a total asset.Point of Origin have released an EP available for the pawltry sum of just £3. Yours to keep forever, for just over the price of a pint. Got to be worth it.Rock on dudes, and may your God be with you.Peace, love and Unity

Saturday, March 04, 2006

"The upper Room" were the first band on stage recently signed to Sony records. Milburn from Sheffield. This shot was taken very shortly before the guitarist on the right in the blue shirt got a bit pissed off with someone throwing beer at the stage, still in the can. He flung himself over the crowd barrier to discuss the matter with a certain young gentleman, in a pugilistic sort of way. He had his shirt ripped off his back for his trouble. The show went on. Their style is more than a nod towards the Arctic Monkeys and The Kaiser chiefs.Finally This is The Rifles who played brilliantly with a sound like early Jam. They are a band hotly tipped to become the next big thing. You heard it here first.

Friday, March 03, 2006

Another great night at Unity, here's Abi during the usual Unity Jam session.The first band up was Kulak. Our guest photographer Richard was so impressed with the band and so into the music he forgot to take photo's. So we're settling for a post gig group shot.Then James (Richards photo) Loop..and finally Dakota

This weeks guest photographer was Richard. Here's what he came up with. Check out Richards photo montage below. Next week Lisa will be behind the lens.